Dynamic tagging recommendation

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a geo-social networking system automatically tags one or more social contacts of a first user to a photo of the first user by ranking the social contacts based on spatial and temporal proximity to the first user, and in response to the first user&#39;s selection of one or more top ranked social contacts, associating the selected social contacts to the photo.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/104,622 filed 12 Dec. 2013, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/097,596 filed 29Apr. 2011 and entitled “Dynamic Tagging Recommendation,” and nowpatented as U.S. Pat. No. 8,631,084, which is incorporated herein byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a geo-social networkingservice that enables users to share photos and videos, and, moreparticularly, to automatically tagging one or more social contacts of afirst user to a photo of the first user based on spatial and temporalproximity to the first user.

BACKGROUND

A social networking system, such as a social networking website, enablesits users to interact with it and with each other through the system.The social networking system may create and store a record, oftenreferred to as a user profile, in connection with the user. The userprofile may include a user's demographic information, communicationchannel information, and personal interest. The social networking systemmay also create and store a record of a user's relationship with otherusers in the social networking system (e.g., social graph), as well asprovide services (e.g., wall-posts, photo-sharing, or instant messaging)to facilitate social interaction between users in the social networkingsystem. A geo-social networking system is a social networking system inwhich geographic services and capabilities are used to enable additionalsocial interactions. User-submitted location data or geo-locationtechniques (e.g., mobile phone position tracking) can allow a geo-socialnetwork system to connect and coordinate users with local people orevents that match their interests. For example, users can check-in to aplace using a mobile client application by providing a name of a place(or selecting a place from a pre-established list of places). Thegeo-social networking system, among other things, can record informationabout the user's presence at the place and possibly provide thisinformation to other users of the geo-social networking system.

SUMMARY

Particular embodiments relate to automatically tagging one or moresocial contacts of a first user to a photo of the first user based onspatial and temporal proximity to the first user. These and otherfeatures, aspects, and advantages of the disclosure are described inmore detail below in the detailed description and in conjunction withthe following figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example social networking system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method of automatically associating ortagging one or more users to an image file based on social andspatio-temporal proximity.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example network environment.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example computer system.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example mobile device platform.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention is now described in detail with reference to a fewembodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are set forth in orderto provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It isapparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the presentdisclosure may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structureshave not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscurethe present disclosure. In addition, while the disclosure is describedin conjunction with the particular embodiments, it should be understoodthat this description is not intended to limit the disclosure to thedescribed embodiments. To the contrary, the description is intended tocover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be includedwithin the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims.

A social networking system, such as a social networking website, enablesits users to interact with it, and with each other through, the system.Typically, to become a registered user of a social networking system, anentity, either human or non-human, registers for an account with thesocial networking system. Thereafter, the registered user may log intothe social networking system via an account by providing, for example, alogin ID or username and password. As used herein, a “user” may be anindividual (human user), an entity (e.g., an enterprise, business, orthird party application), or a group (e.g., of individuals or entities)that interacts or communicates with or over such a social networkenvironment.

When a user registers for an account with a social networking system,the social networking system may create and store a record, oftenreferred to as a “user profile”, in connection with the user. The userprofile may include information provided by the user and informationgathered by various systems, including the social networking system,relating to activities or actions of the user. For example, the user mayprovide his name, profile picture, contact information, birth date,gender, marital status, family status, employment, education background,preferences, interests, and other demographical information to beincluded in his user profile. The user may identify other users of thesocial networking system that the user considers to be his friends. Alist of the user's friends or first degree contacts may be included inthe user's profile. Connections in social networking systems may be inboth directions or may be in just one direction. For example, if Bob andJoe are both users and connect with each another, Bob and Joe are eachconnections of the other. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes to connectto Sam to view Sam's posted content items, but Sam does not choose toconnect to Bob, a one-way connection may be formed where Sam is Bob'sconnection, but Bob is not Sam's connection. Some embodiments of asocial networking system allow the connection to be indirect via one ormore levels of connections (e.g., friends of friends). Connections maybe added explicitly by a user, for example, the user selecting aparticular other user to be a friend, or automatically created by thesocial networking system based on common characteristics of the users(e.g., users who are alumni of the same educational institution). Theuser may identify or bookmark websites or web pages he visits frequentlyand these websites or web pages may be included in the user's profile.

The user may provide information relating to various aspects of the user(such as contact information and interests) at the time the userregisters for an account or at a later time. The user may also updatehis or her profile information at any time. For example, when the usermoves, or changes a phone number, he may update his contact information.Additionally, the user's interests may change as time passes, and theuser may update his interests in his profile from time to time. A user'sactivities on the social networking system, such as frequency ofaccessing particular information on the system, may also provideinformation that may be included in the user's profile. Again, suchinformation may be updated from time to time to reflect the user'smost-recent activities. Still further, other users or so-called friendsor contacts of the user may also perform activities that affect or causeupdates to a user's profile. For example, a contact may add the user asa friend (or remove the user as a friend). A contact may also writemessages to the user's profile pages—typically known as wall-posts. Auser may also input status messages that get posted to the user'sprofile page.

A social network system may maintain social graph information, which cangenerally model the relationships among groups of individuals, and mayinclude relationships ranging from casual acquaintances to closefamilial bonds. A social network may be represented using a graphstructure. Each node of the graph corresponds to a member of the socialnetwork. Edges connecting two nodes represent a relationship between twousers. In addition, the degree of separation between any two nodes isdefined as the minimum number of hops required to traverse the graphfrom one node to the other. A degree of separation between two users canbe considered a measure of relatedness between the two users representedby the nodes in the graph.

A social networking system may support a variety of applications, suchas photo sharing, on-line calendars and events. For example, the socialnetworking system may also include media sharing capabilities. Forexample, the social networking system may allow users to postphotographs and other multimedia files to a user's profile, such as in awall post or in a photo album, both of which may be accessible to otherusers of the social networking system. Social networking system may alsoallow users to configure events. For example, a first user may configurean event with attributes including time and date of the event, locationof the event and other users invited to the event. The invited users mayreceive invitations to the event and respond (such as by accepting theinvitation or declining it). Furthermore, social networking system mayallow users to maintain a personal calendar. Similarly to events, thecalendar entries may include times, dates, locations and identities ofother users.

The social networking system may also support a privacy model. A usermay or may not wish to share his information with other users orthird-party applications, or a user may wish to share his informationonly with specific users or third-party applications. A user may controlwhether his information is shared with other users or third-partyapplications through privacy settings associated with his user profile.For example, a user may select a privacy setting for each user datumassociated with the user and/or select settings that apply globally orto categories or types of user profile information. A privacy settingdefines, or identifies, the set of entities (e.g., other users,connections of the user, friends of friends, or third party application)that may have access to the user datum. The privacy setting may bespecified on various levels of granularity, such as by specifyingparticular entities in the social network (e.g., other users),predefined groups of the user's connections, a particular type ofconnections, all of the user's connections, all first-degree connectionsof the user's connections, the entire social network, or even the entireInternet (e.g., to make the posted content item index-able andsearchable on the Internet). A user may choose a default privacy settingfor all user data that is to be posted. Additionally, a user mayspecifically exclude certain entities from viewing a user datum or aparticular type of user data.

Social networking system may maintain a database of information relatingto geographic locations or places. Places may correspond to variousphysical locations, such as restaurants, bars, train stations, airportsand the like. In one implementation, each place can be maintained as ahub node in a social graph or other data structure maintained by thesocial networking system, as described in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/763,171, which is incorporated by reference herein for allpurposes. Social networking system may allow users to access informationregarding each place using a client application (e.g., a browser) hostedby a wired or wireless station, such as a laptop, desktop or mobiledevice. For example, social networking system may serve web pages (orother structured documents) to users that request information about aplace. In addition to user profile and place information, the socialnetworking system may track or maintain other information about theuser. For example, the social networking system may support geo-socialnetworking system functionality including one or more location-basedservices that record the user's location. For example, users may accessthe geo-social networking system using a special-purpose clientapplication hosted by a mobile device of the user (or a web- ornetwork-based application using a browser client). The clientapplication may automatically access Global Positioning System (GPS) orother geo-location functions supported by the mobile device and reportthe user's current location to the geo-social networking system. Inaddition, the client application may support geo-social networkingfunctionality that allows users to check-in at various locations andcommunicate this location to other users. A check-in to a given placemay occur when a user is physically located at a place and, using amobile device, access the geo-social networking system to register theuser's presence at the place. A user may select a place from a list ofexisting places near to the user's current location or create a newplace. The social networking system may automatically checks in a userto a place based on the user's current location and past location data,as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/042,357 filed onMar. 7, 2011, which is incorporated by reference herein for allpurposes. An entry including a comment and a time stamp corresponding tothe time the user checked in may be displayed to other users. Forexample, a record of the user's check-in activity may be stored in adatabase. Social networking system may select one or more recordsassociated with check-in activities of users at a given place andinclude such check-in activity in web pages (or other structureddocuments) that correspond to a given place. The check-in activity mayalso be displayed on a user profile page and in news feeds provided tousers of the social networking system.

Still further, a special purpose client application hosted on a mobiledevice of a user may be configured to continuously capture location dataof the mobile device and send the location data to social networkingsystem. In this manner, the social networking system may track theuser's location and provide various recommendations to the user relatedto places that are proximal to the user's path or that are frequented bythe user. In one implementation, a user may opt in to thisrecommendation service, which causes the client application toperiodically post location data of the user to the social networkingsystem.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example social networking system. In particularembodiments, the social networking system may store user profile dataand social graph information in user profile database 101. In particularembodiments, the social networking system may store user event data inevent database 102. For example, a user may register a new event byaccessing a client application to define an event name, a time and alocation, and cause the newly created event to be stored in eventdatabase 102. For example, a user may register with an existing event byaccessing a client application to confirming attending the event, andcause the confirmation to be stored in event database 102. In particularembodiments, the social networking system may store user privacy policydata in privacy policy database 103. In particular embodiments, thesocial networking system may store geographic and location data inlocation database 104. In particular embodiments, the social networkingsystem may store media data (e.g., photos, or video clips) in mediadatabase 105. In particular embodiments, databases 101, 102, 103, 104,and 105 may be operably connected to the social networking system'sfront end. In particular embodiments, the front end 120 may interactwith client device 122 through network cloud 121. Client device 122 isgenerally a computer or computing device including functionality forcommunicating (e.g., remotely) over a computer network. Client device122 may be a desktop computer, laptop computer, personal digitalassistant (PDA), in- or out-of-car navigation system, smart phone orother cellular or mobile phone, or mobile gaming device, among othersuitable computing devices. Client device 122 may execute one or moreclient applications, such as a web browser (e.g., Microsoft WindowsInternet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome, andOpera, etc.) or special-purpose client application (e.g., Facebook foriPhone, etc.), to access and view content over a computer network. Frontend 120 may include web or HTTP server functionality, as well as otherfunctionality, to allow users to access the social networking system.Network cloud 121 generally represents a network or collection ofnetworks (such as the Internet or a corporate intranet, or a combinationof both) over which client devices 122 may access the social networksystem.

In particular embodiments, location database 104 may store aninformation base of places, where each place includes a name, ageographic location and meta information (such as the user thatinitially created the place, reviews, comments, check-in activity data,and the like). Places may be created by administrators of the systemand/or created by users of the system. For example, a user may registera new place by accessing a client application to define a place name andprovide a geographic location and cause the newly created place to beregistered in location database 104. As discussed above, a created placemay correspond to a hub node, which an administrator can claim forpurposes of augmenting the information about the place and for creatingads or other offers to be delivered to users. In particular embodiments,system front end 120 may construct and serve a web page of a place, asrequested by a user. In some embodiments, a web page of a place mayinclude selectable components for a user to “like” the place or check into the place. In particular embodiments, location database 104 may storegeo-location data identifying a real-world geographic location of a userassociated with a check-in. For example, a geographic location of anInternet connected computer can be identified by the computer's IPaddress. For example, a geographic location of a cell phone equippedwith cellular, Wi-Fi and/or GPS capabilities can be identified by celltower triangulation, Wi-Fi positioning, and/or GPS positioning. Inparticular embodiments, location database 104 may store a geographiclocation and additional information of a plurality of places. Forexample, a place can be a local business, a point of interest (e.g.,Union Square in San Francisco, Calif.), a college, a city, or a nationalpark. For example, a geographic location of a place (e.g., a localcoffee shop) can be an address, a set of geographic coordinates(latitude and longitude), or a reference to another place (e.g., “thecoffee shop next to the train station”). For example, additionalinformation of a place can be business hours, photos, or user reviews ofthe place. In particular embodiments, location database 104 may store auser's location data. For example, a user can create a place (e.g., anew restaurant or coffee shop) and the social networking system canstore the created place in location database 104. For example, locationdatabase 104 may store a user's check-in activities. For example,location database 104 may store a user's geographic location provided bythe user's GPS-equipped mobile device.

In particular embodiments, a user of the social networking system mayupload one or more media files to media database 105. For example, auser can upload a photo or a set of photos (often called a photo album),or a video clip to media database 105 from a client device 122 (e.g., acomputer, or a camera phone). In particular embodiments, the one or moremedia files may contain metadata (often called “tags”) associated witheach media file. For example, a photo shot by a digital camera maycontain metadata relating to file size, resolution, time stamp, name ofthe camera maker, and/or location (e.g., GPS) coordinates. In oneimplementation, the client device 122 may implement the Exchangeableimage file format (Exif), or a modified version thereof. A user can addadditional metadata values to a photo, or tag a photo, during or inconnection with an upload process. Some examples of tags of a media fileare author, title, comments, event names, time, location, names ofpeople appearing in the media file, or user comment. In particularembodiments, a user may tag a media file by using a client application(e.g., a photo or video editor), or entering one or more tags in agraphical user interface of a media uploading tool that uploads a user'sone or more media files from a client device 122 to the socialnetworking system. A user may also tag a media file after an upload at alater time in the social networking system's web site. In particularembodiments, the social networking system may also extract metadata froma media file and store the metadata in media database 105. Particularembodiments herein describe methods of automatically tagging one or moreusers to a media file.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method of automatically associating ortagging one or more users to an image file based on social andspatio-temporal proximity. FIG. 2 can be implemented, at least in part,by a user tagging process hosted by one or more computing devices of thesocial networking system. The server-side user tagging process mayoperate in connection with a client-side photo tagging applicationhosted on one or more client devices. In particular embodiments, theuser tagging process may receive a message comprising an image and acurrent location of a first user from a photo tagging application hostedon a mobile device (201). In particular embodiments, an image may be astill photographic picture, a video clip, or a still frame of a videoclip. For example, a first user may access a camera application hostedby the first user's GPS-equipped mobile phone, causing a photo taggingapplication hosted by the user's GPS-equipped mobile phone to transmit aphoto tagging request comprising the first user's identifier of thesocial networking system (e.g., a user name), the user's currentlocation (e.g., GPS coordinates) with a time stamp, and an imagecaptured by the camera application (and stored in a local storage of themobile phone), or alternatively, an image being displayed by the cameraapplication's viewfinder graphical user interface. Additionally, if afirst user's location data is not available from the uploading request(e.g., no GPS signal received by the first user's mobile phone at thetime of the request), the user tagging process may access locationdatabase 104 to retrieve the first user's most recent location andassociated time stamp, for example, the most recent check-in activity,or the most recent recorded GPS coordinates and associated time stampfrom the first user's GPS-equipped mobile phone. Other locationtechnologies may also be employed, such as locating the user's devicebased on cell tower and/or WiFi access point identities corresponding tothe access nodes to which the user's device is associated, or usingtriangulation techniques (e.g., signal strength, time difference ofarrival, time of arrival, etc.) based on observed cellular radio networkor WiFi signals. Other location technologies may based on detection ofother signals, such as BlueTooth or Near Field Communications (NFC)technologies.

In particular embodiments, the user tagging process may access a datastore to retrieve a set of social contacts associated with the firstuser (202). In particular embodiments, the user tagging process mayaccess a data store to retrieve a set of users who are within apre-determined social proximity to the first user. For example, the usertagging process can access user profile 101 based on the user identifierof the first user, to retrieve a set of users who are within aconfigurable degree (e.g., one or two degrees) of separation from thefirst user.

In particular embodiments, the user tagging process may accessspatio-temporal information for one or more social contacts identifiedin the set of social contacts (203). For example, the user taggingprocess may access location database 104 for current or most recentlocation data for one or more users of the set of social contactsassociated with the first user. For example, the user tagging processmay access event database 102 for current or most recent event data forone or more users of the set of social contacts associated with thefirst user. In some embodiments, the user tagging process may determinecurrent or most recent location data based on the current or most recentevent data for the one or more users of the set of social contactsassociated with the first user. In addition, the user tagging processmay access a data store of user check-in activity to determine whetherone or more users have recently checked in to a given location. Stillfurther, in some implementation, some users may have client devices andassociated applications that periodically report a users location to thesocial networking system. In other implementations, the user taggingprocess can infer location based on data stored in a user's on-linecalendar, status updates regarding a place and time where a user plansto be, or comments to status updates of others indicating a similarintention.

In particular embodiments, the user tagging process may rank the set ofsocial contacts based on spatio-temporal proximity to the currentlocation of the first user (204). For example, the user tagging processcan rank one or more users of the set of social contacts who havelocation data that are within a quarter mile and +/−30 minutes from thefirst user's current location higher than the rest of users of the setof social contacts. For example, the user tagging process can rank oneor more users of the set of social contacts who are attending a samecurrent event as the first user higher than the rest of users of the setof social contacts. The user tagging process may access events database102 to determine whether other users have registered for or checked-into an event near the first user's location. In some embodiments, theuser tagging process may rank the set of social contacts by assigning aproximity ranking score to each of the set of social contacts basedspatio-temporal proximity to the first user's current location. Forexample, the user tagging process can assign a proximity ranking scoreof 1.0 to a social contact if the social contact's location data iswithin 500 feet and +/−15 minutes from the first user's currentlocation, a proximity ranking score of 0.7 to a social contact if thesocial contact's location data is beyond 500 feet by within 1000 feet,and with +/−30 minutes from the first user's current location, etc.

Additionally, the user tagging process may adjust the ranking of the setof social contacts by matching one or more faces in the image to one ormore users of the set of social contacts. In particular embodiments, theuser tagging process may identify one or more faces in the image. Forexample, the user tagging process can identify one or more faces byusing face detection software. In other embodiments, the photo taggingapplication may identify one or more face in the image. For example, thephoto tagging application can identify one or more faces by using facedetection software and transmit locations and extents in the imagecorresponding to the one or more identified faces to the user taggingprocess. Yet in another embodiment, the first user may identify one ormore faces in the image. For example, the first user may select one ormore faces in the image by touch gestures of circling the one or morefaces in the image displayed in the first user's mobile phone's touchscreen, causing the photo tagging application to transmit locations andextents in the image corresponding to the one or more identified facesto the user tagging process. In some embodiments, the photo taggingapplication may highlight the one or more identified faces in the image.For example, the photo tagging application can highlight one or moreidentified faces in an image displayed in a view finder graphical userinterface of the first user's mobile phone's camera application byoverlaying one or more boxes on the image wherein each box encircles anidentified face in the image. For example, a highlight box can encircleand follow movement of an identified face in the view finder graphicaluser interface.

In particular embodiments, for at least a first face in the one or moreidentified faces, the user tagging process may match the first face toone or more users of the set of social contacts and adjust the rankingof the set of social contacts based on whether one or more users matchthe first face. For example, the user tagging process may determine amatch between a face and a person (e.g., a profile picture of the personstored in the social networking system) based on application of a facialrecognition or matching algorithm that returns a matching score andcomparing the score to a threshold value. For example, facialrecognition computer software can calculate a correlation coefficientbetween a potential match and an identified face, where the correlationcoefficient ranges from 0.0 (“no correlation at all”) to 1.0 (“perfectmatch”), and determine a match to the identified face if the correlationcoefficient is greater than 0.8. Suitable recognition algorithms includePrincipal Component Analysis, Linear Discriminate Analysis, ElasticBunch Graph Matching, Hidden Markov model, and Neuronal MotivatedDynamic Link Matching. For example, the user tagging process can accessa facial recognition software (e.g., face.com) though the software's API(application program interface). For example, after determining a matchbetween the first face and a particular user of the set of socialcontact, the user tagging process can rank the particular user to thetop of the ranked list, or adjusting the proximity ranking scores forthe particular user (e.g., multiplying the proximity ranking score by1.5 if there's a match to a face, or by 1.0 or no change if there's nomatch to a face).

Other algorithms may also be employed. For example, the currentlocations (if any) of users can be used to filter out from considerationall N-degree (where N is configurable) contacts of the first useroutside of some defined radius of the current location of the firstuser, keeping those N-degree contacts of the first user for furtherconsideration. The user tagging process may then apply a facialrecognition process to the filtered set of users to return a ranked listof users. A ranking score can be based on one or more of facialrecognition scores, spatio-temporal proximity, user-to-user affinity,and degree of separation from the user. Normalization and factorweightings may be applied to adjust the relative influence of thesefactors. In addition, the weightings can also be adjusted based on theconfidence level of the location data. For example, when locations areinferred from status updates, tagging activities and the like, aconfidence level that the inferred location is correct can also be usedto weight the ranking score for one or more users.

In particular embodiments, the user tagging process may transmit useridentifiers (e.g., user names) corresponding to the one or more topranked social contacts of the set of social contacts to the phototagging application (205). In some embodiments, the user tagging processmay transmit additional user information corresponding to the one ormore top ranked social contacts of the set of social contacts to thephoto tagging application. For example, the user tagging process cantransmit a profile picture, or names of mutual friends between a topranked social contact and the first user, to the photo taggingapplication.

In particular embodiments, the photo tagging application may presentuser information of the top ranked social contacts of the set of socialcontacts to the first user. For example, the photo tagging applicationcan present user names of top ranked social contacts with the image tothe first user. For example, the photo tagging application can presentuser names of the top ranked social contacts and for each top rankedsocial contact, a list of names of mutual friends between the top rankedsocial contact and the first user, with the image to the first user. Inparticular embodiments, in response to the first user's selection of oneor more top ranked users presented to the first user, the photo taggingapplication may associate or tag the selected users to the image. Inparticular embodiments, the photo tagging application may transmit thefirst user's selection to the user tagging process, causing the usertagging process to present the image to the one or more selected users.For example, the user tagging process can transmit the image to aselected user's mobile phone, causing a special-purpose clientapplication hosted by the selected user's mobile phone to present theimage to the selected user. In particular embodiments, the user taggingprocess may store the image in a data store. For example, the usertagging process can store the image and associated information (e.g.,user identifiers for one or more users tagged in the image) in mediadatabase 105.

While the foregoing embodiments may be implemented in a variety ofnetwork configurations, the following illustrates an example networkenvironment for didactic, and not limiting, purposes. FIG. 3 illustratesan example network environment 500. Network environment 500 includes anetwork 510 coupling one or more servers 520 and one or more clients 530to each other. Network environment 500 also includes one or more datastorage 540 linked to one or more servers 520. Particular embodimentsmay be implemented in network environment 500. For example, socialnetworking system frontend 120 may be written in software programshosted by one or more servers 520. For example, event database 102 maybe stored in one or more storage 540. In particular embodiments, network510 is an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), alocal area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network(WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, oranother network 510 or a combination of two or more such networks 510.The present disclosure contemplates any suitable network 510. One ormore links 550 couple a server 520 or a client 530 to network 510. Inparticular embodiments, one or more links 550 each includes one or morewired, wireless, or optical links 550. In particular embodiments, one ormore links 550 each includes an intranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, aWLAN, a WAN, a MAN, a portion of the Internet, or another link 550 or acombination of two or more such links 550. The present disclosurecontemplates any suitable links 550 coupling servers 520 and clients 530to network 510.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example computer system 600, which may be usedwith some embodiments of the present invention. This disclosurecontemplates any suitable number of computer systems 600. Thisdisclosure contemplates computer system 600 taking any suitable physicalform. As example and not by way of limitation, computer system 600 maybe an embedded computer system, a system-on-chip (SOC), a single-boardcomputer system (SBC) (such as, for example, a computer-on-module (COM)or system-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computer system, a laptop ornotebook computer system, an interactive kiosk, a mainframe, a mesh ofcomputer systems, a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a server, or a combination of two or more of these. Whereappropriate, computer system 600 may include one or more computersystems 600; be unitary or distributed; span multiple locations; spanmultiple machines; or reside in a cloud, which may include one or morecloud components in one or more networks. Where appropriate, one or morecomputer systems 600 may perform without substantial spatial or temporallimitation one or more steps of one or more methods described orillustrated herein. As an example and not by way of limitation, one ormore computer systems 600 may perform in real time or in batch mode oneor more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein.One or more computer systems 600 may perform at different times or atdifferent locations one or more steps of one or more methods describedor illustrated herein, where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, computer system 600 includes a processor 602,memory 604, storage 606, an input/output (I/O) interface 608, acommunication interface 610, and a bus 612. In particular embodiments,processor 602 includes hardware for executing instructions, such asthose making up a computer program. As an example and not by way oflimitation, to execute instructions, processor 602 may retrieve (orfetch) the instructions from an internal register, an internal cache,memory 604, or storage 606; decode and execute them; and then write oneor more results to an internal register, an internal cache, memory 604,or storage 606. In particular embodiments, processor 602 may include oneor more internal caches for data, instructions, or addresses.

In particular embodiments, memory 604 includes main memory for storinginstructions for processor 602 to execute or data for processor 602 tooperate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system600 may load instructions from storage 606 or another source (such as,for example, another computer system 600) to memory 604. Processor 602may then load the instructions from memory 604 to an internal registeror internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 602 mayretrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cacheand decode them. During or after execution of the instructions,processor 602 may write one or more results (which may be intermediateor final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor602 may then write one or more of those results to memory 604. Inparticular embodiments, processor 602 executes only instructions in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 604 (asopposed to storage 606 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one ormore internal registers or internal caches or in memory 604 (as opposedto storage 606 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (which may eachinclude an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 602 tomemory 604. Bus 612 may include one or more memory buses. In particularembodiments, one or more memory management units (MMUs) reside betweenprocessor 602 and memory 604 and facilitate accesses to memory 604requested by processor 602. In particular embodiments, memory 604includes random access memory (RAM). This RAM may be volatile memory,where appropriate

In particular embodiments, storage 606 includes mass storage for data orinstructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 606may include an HDD, a floppy disk drive, flash memory, an optical disc,a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or a Universal Serial Bus (USB)drive or a combination of two or more of these. Storage 606 may includeremovable or non-removable (or fixed) media, where appropriate. Storage606 may be internal or external to computer system 600, whereappropriate. In particular embodiments, storage 606 is non-volatile,solid-state memory. In particular embodiments, storage 606 includesread-only memory (ROM). Where appropriate, this ROM may bemask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM),or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these.

In particular embodiments, communication interface 610 includeshardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces forcommunication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) betweencomputer system 600 and one or more other computer systems 600 or one ormore networks. As an example and not by way of limitation, communicationinterface 610 may include a network interface controller (NIC) ornetwork adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-basednetwork or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicatingwith a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. This disclosurecontemplates any suitable network and any suitable communicationinterface 610 for it. As an example and not by way of limitation,computer system 600 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personalarea network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or more portions of theInternet or a combination of two or more of these. One or more portionsof one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless. As anexample, computer system 600 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN)(such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network (such as, forexample, a 802.11a/b/g/n WI-FI network, a 802.11s mesh network), aWI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, aGlobal System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, an Enhanced DataRates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) network, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) network, a Long Term Evolution (LTE)network), or other suitable wireless network or a combination of two ormore of these.

The client-side functionality described above can be implemented as aseries of instructions stored on a computer-readable storage mediumthat, when executed, cause a programmable processor to implement theoperations described above. While the client device 122 may beimplemented in a variety of different hardware and computing systems,FIG. 5 shows a schematic representation of the main components of anexample computing platform of a client or mobile device, according tovarious particular embodiments. In particular embodiments, computingplatform 702 may comprise controller 704, memory 706, and input outputsubsystem 710. In particular embodiments, controller 704 which maycomprise one or more processors and/or one or more microcontrollersconfigured to execute instructions and to carry out operationsassociated with a computing platform. In various embodiments, controller704 may be implemented as a single-chip, multiple chips and/or otherelectrical components including one or more integrated circuits andprinted circuit boards. Controller 704 may optionally contain a cachememory unit for temporary local storage of instructions, data, orcomputer addresses. By way of example, using instructions retrieved frommemory, controller 704 may control the reception and manipulation ofinput and output data between components of computing platform 702. Byway of example, controller 704 may include one or more processors or oneor more controllers dedicated for certain processing tasks of computingplatform 702, for example, for 2D/3D graphics processing, imageprocessing, or video processing.

Controller 704 together with a suitable operating system may operate toexecute instructions in the form of computer code and produce and usedata. By way of example and not by way of limitation, the operatingsystem may be Windows-based, Mac-based, or Unix or Linux-based, orSymbian-based, among other suitable operating systems. The operatingsystem, other computer code and/or data may be physically stored withinmemory 706 that is operatively coupled to controller 704.

Memory 706 may encompass one or more storage media and generally providea place to store computer code (e.g., software and/or firmware) and datathat are used by computing platform 702. By way of example, memory 706may include various tangible computer-readable storage media includingRead-Only Memory (ROM) and/or Random-Access Memory (RAM). As is wellknown in the art, ROM acts to transfer data and instructionsuni-directionally to controller 704, and RAM is used typically totransfer data and instructions in a bi-directional manner. Memory 706may also include one or more fixed storage devices in the form of, byway of example, hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs),flash-memory cards (e.g., Secured Digital or SD cards, embeddedMultiMediaCard or eMMD cards), among other suitable forms of memorycoupled bi-directionally to controller 704. Information may also resideon one or more removable storage media loaded into or installed incomputing platform 702 when needed. By way of example, any of a numberof suitable memory cards (e.g., SD cards) may be loaded into computingplatform 702 on a temporary or permanent basis.

Input output subsystem 710 may comprise one or more input and outputdevices operably connected to controller 704. For example, input outputsubsystem may include keyboard, mouse, one or more buttons, thumb wheel,and/or, display (e.g., liquid crystal display (LCD), light emittingdiode (LED), Interferometric modulator display (IMOD), or any othersuitable display technology). Generally, input devices are configured totransfer data, commands and responses from the outside world intocomputing platform 702. The display is generally configured to display agraphical user interface (GUI) that provides an easy to use visualinterface between a user of the computing platform 702 and the operatingsystem or application(s) running on the mobile device. Generally, theGUI presents programs, files and operational options with graphicalimages. During operation, the user may select and activate variousgraphical images displayed on the display in order to initiate functionsand tasks associated therewith. Input output subsystem 710 may alsoinclude touch based devices such as touch pad and touch screen. Atouchpad is an input device including a surface that detects touch-basedinputs of users. Similarly, a touch screen is a display that detects thepresence and location of user touch inputs. Input output system 710 mayalso include dual touch or multi-touch displays or touch pads that canidentify the presence, location and movement of more than one touchinputs, such as two or three finger touches.

In particular embodiments, computing platform 702 may additionallycomprise audio subsystem 712, camera subsystem 712, wirelesscommunication subsystem 716, sensor subsystems 718, and/or wiredcommunication subsystem 720, operably connected to controller 704 tofacilitate various functions of computing platform 702. For example,Audio subsystem 712, including a speaker, a microphone, and a codecmodule configured to process audio signals, can be utilized tofacilitate voice-enabled functions, such as voice recognition, voicereplication, digital recording, and telephony functions. For example,camera subsystem 712, including an optical sensor (e.g., a chargedcoupled device (CCD), or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS) image sensor), can be utilized to facilitate camera functions,such as recording photographs and video clips. For example, wiredcommunication subsystem 720 can include a Universal Serial Bus (USB)port for file transferring, or a Ethernet port for connection to a localarea network (LAN). Additionally, computing platform 702 may be poweredby power source 732.

Wireless communication subsystem 716 can be designed to operate over oneor more wireless networks, for example, a wireless PAN (WPAN) (such as,for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN, an infrared PAN), a WI-FI network (suchas, for example, an 802.11a/b/g/n WI-FI network, an 802.11s meshnetwork), a WI-MAX network, a cellular telephone network (such as, forexample, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, anEnhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) network, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) network, and/or a Long Term Evolution(LTE) network). Additionally, wireless communication subsystem 716 mayinclude hosting protocols such that computing platform 702 may beconfigured as a base station for other wireless devices. Sensorsubsystem 718 may include one or more sensor devices to provideadditional input and facilitate multiple functionalities of computingplatform 702. For example, sensor subsystems 718 may include GPS sensorfor location positioning, altimeter for altitude positioning, motionsensor for determining orientation of a mobile device, light sensor forphotographing function with camera subsystem 714, temperature sensor formeasuring ambient temperature, and/or biometric sensor for securityapplication (e.g., fingerprint reader). Other input/output devices mayinclude an accelerometer that can be used to detect the orientation ofthe device.

Herein, reference to a computer-readable storage medium encompasses oneor more non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage mediapossessing structure. As an example and not by way of limitation, acomputer-readable storage medium may include a semiconductor-based orother integrated circuit (IC) (such, as for example, afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific IC(ASIC)), a hard disk, an HDD, a hybrid hard drive (HHD), an opticaldisc, an optical disc drive (ODD), a magneto-optical disc, amagneto-optical drive, a floppy disk, a floppy disk drive (FDD),magnetic tape, a holographic storage medium, a solid-state drive (SSD),a RAM-drive, a SECURE DIGITAL card, a SECURE DIGITAL drive, aMultiMediaCard (MMC) card, an embedded MMC (eMMC) card, or anothersuitable computer-readable storage medium or a combination of two ormore of these, where appropriate. Herein, reference to acomputer-readable storage medium excludes any medium that is noteligible for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Herein, referenceto a computer-readable storage medium excludes transitory forms ofsignal transmission (such as a propagating electrical or electromagneticsignal per se) to the extent that they are not eligible for patentprotection under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

The present disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodimentsherein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.Similarly, where appropriate, the appended claims encompass all changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the exampleembodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art wouldcomprehend.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, by one or more computing devices,comprising: receiving, at a computing device, a multimedia file sent bya computing device of a first user; accessing a data store to retrieve aset of social contacts, wherein a social contact is a second userassociated with the first user, an entity, or a group; prior toconducting a social contact-identifying procedure based on imagesdetected in the multimedia file, selecting one or more of the socialcontacts based on spatio-temporal proximity of the social contact to alocation associated with the first user; and after conducting the socialcontact-identifying procedure on the one or more social contacts,sending identifiers corresponding to the identified social contacts tothe computing device of the first user.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the social contact-identifying procedure comprises: accessingone or more of the images detected in the multimedia file; identifyingmetadata associated with the accessed image; matching the identifiedmetadata to one or more social contacts; and adjusting the set ofselected social contacts based on an indication of a match to theidentified metadata.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the metadataassociated with the accessed image comprises: a technical property ofthe image; spatio-temporal information; an author of the image; a titleof the image; comments associated with the image; or an event nameassociated with the image.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the set ofsocial contacts comprises a second user associated with the first user,further comprising adjusting the set of selected social contacts by:identifying one or more faces in the multimedia file; and for at least afirst face in the one or more identified faces: matching the at least afirst face to one or more social contacts; and adjusting the set ofselected social contacts based on an indication of a match to the atleast a first face.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprisingadjusting the set of selected social contacts by retrieving a privacysetting for the first user and removing social contacts from theselected social contacts that do not have access to the multimedia file.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to the firstuser's selection of one or more social contacts presented to the firstuser, associating the selected social contacts with the multimedia file.7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: presenting the multimediafile to the one or more selected social contacts.
 8. The method of claim6, further comprising: storing the multimedia file in a data store. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the first user isdetermined based on one or more of: location-based data included in themessage; location-based data accessed from a data store; one or moreglobal positioning system (GPS) coordinates associated with thecomputing device of the first user; an association of the computingdevice of the first user with one or more access nodes; or one or moresignals received or sent by the computing device of the first user. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the first user comprisesone or more of: a current location of the first user; a recent locationof the first user; or a location the first user has checked-in to.
 11. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing computerprogram code operative, when executed, to cause one or more processorsto: receive, at a computing device, a multimedia file sent by acomputing device of a first user; access a data store to retrieve a setof social contacts, wherein a social contact is a second user associatedwith the first user, an entity, or a group; prior to conducting a socialcontact-identifying procedure based on images detected in the multimediafile, select one or more of the social contacts based on spatio-temporalproximity of the social contact to a location associated with the firstuser; and after conducting the social contact-identifying procedure onthe one or more social contacts, send identifiers corresponding to theidentified social contacts to the computing device of the first user.12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the socialcontact-identifying procedure comprises: accessing one or more of theimages detected in the multimedia file; identifying metadata associatedwith the accessed image; matching the identified metadata to one or moresocial contacts; and adjusting the set of selected social contacts basedon an indication of a match to the identified metadata.
 13. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the metadataassociated with the accessed image comprises: a technical property ofthe image; spatio-temporal information; an author of the image; a titleof the image; comments associated with the image; or an event nameassociated with the image.
 14. The computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 11, wherein the set of social contacts comprises a second userassociated with the first user, further comprising instructionsoperative to cause the one or more processors to adjust the set ofselected social contacts by: identifying one or more faces in themultimedia file; and for at least a first face in the one or moreidentified faces: matching the at least a first face to one or moresocial contacts; and adjusting the set of selected social contacts basedon an indication of a match to the at least a first face.
 15. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprisinginstructions operative to cause the one or more processors to adjust theset of selected social contacts by retrieving a privacy setting for thefirst user and removing social contacts from the selected socialcontacts that do not have access to the multimedia file.
 16. The mediumof claim 11, further comprising instructions to cause one or moreprocessors to: in response to the first user's selection of one or moresocial contacts presented to the first user, associate the selectedsocial contacts with the multimedia file.
 17. The medium of claim 16,further comprising instructions to cause one or more processors to:present the multimedia file to the one or more selected social contacts.18. The medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions to cause oneor more processors to: store the multimedia file in a data store. 19.The medium of claim 11, wherein the location of the first user isdetermined based on one or more of: location-based data included in themessage; location-based data accessed from a data store; one or moreglobal positioning system (GPS) coordinates associated with thecomputing device of the first user; an association of the computingdevice of the first user with one or more access nodes; or one or moresignals received or sent by the computing device of the first user. 20.The medium of claim 11, wherein the location of the first user comprisesone or more of: a current location of the first user; a recent locationof the first user; or a location the first user has checked-in to. 21.An apparatus, comprising a memory; one or more interfaces; one or moreprocessors; and a computer-readable storage medium storing instructionsoperative, when executed, to cause the one or more processors to:receive, at a computing device, a multimedia file sent by a computingdevice of a first user; access a data store to retrieve a set of socialcontacts, wherein a social contact is a second user associated with thefirst user, an entity, or a group; prior to conducting a socialcontact-identifying procedure based on images detected in the multimediafile, select one or more of the social contacts based on spatio-temporalproximity of the social contact to a location associated with the firstuser; and after conducting the social contact-identifying procedure onthe one or more social contacts, send identifiers corresponding to theidentified social contacts to the computing device of the first user.22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the social contact-identifyingprocedure comprises: accessing one or more of the images detected in themultimedia file; identifying metadata associated with the accessedimage; matching the identified metadata to one or more social contacts;and adjusting the set of selected social contacts based on an indicationof a match to the identified metadata.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22,wherein the metadata associated with the accessed image comprises: atechnical property of the image; spatio-temporal information; an authorof the image; a title of the image; comments associated with the image;or an event name associated with the image.
 24. The apparatus of claim21, wherein the set of social contacts comprises a second userassociated with the first user, and wherein the storage medium furthercomprises instructions operative to cause the one or more processors toadjust the set of selected social contacts by: identifying one or morefaces in the multimedia file; and for at least a first face in the oneor more identified faces: matching the at least a first face to one ormore social contacts; and adjusting the set of selected social contactsbased on an indication of a match to the at least a first face.
 25. Theapparatus of claim 21, wherein the storage medium further comprisesinstructions operative to cause one or more processors to adjust the setof selected social contacts by retrieving a privacy setting for thefirst user and removing social contacts from the selected socialcontacts that do not have access to the multimedia file.
 26. Theapparatus of claim 21, wherein the storage medium further comprisesinstructions operative to cause the one or more processors to: inresponse to the first user's selection of one or more social contactspresented to the first user, associating the selected social contactswith the multimedia file.
 27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein thestorage medium further comprises instructions operative to cause the oneor more processors to: present the multimedia file to the one or moreselected social contacts.
 28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein thestorage medium further comprises instructions operative to cause the oneor more processors to: store the multimedia file in a data store. 29.The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the location of the first user isdetermined based on one or more of: location-based data included in themessage; location-based data accessed from a data store; one or moreglobal positioning system (GPS) coordinates associated with thecomputing device of the first user; an association of the computingdevice of the first user with one or more access nodes; or one or moresignals received or sent by the computing device of the first user. 30.The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the location of the first usercomprises one or more of: a current location of the first user; a recentlocation of the first user; or a location the first user has checked-into.